Answer garden is a useful quick polling tool. You simply go to the website and create your own poll using your own question. The question must be simple as the answer must be pretty basic. This sort of tool can be used in the classroom as en "exit card" situation, or to get an understanding about the most learned information among the class. As the participants answer, the words that are keyed in more frequently become larger as the words that are not are smaller. Providing a visual, and a tool for the educator. 
This could be important in my classroom due to the fact that I will be working with individuals with special needs and I can see this as a useful visual tool. The students are not required to use any sort of new or challenging technology and the visual results can aid them. One of the ways I would utilize answer garden among my students would be for a KLW.

Podcast about inquiry based learning and Constructivist Classroom.

Inquiry-based learning  in simple terms is providing learners with the opportunity to learn the way that they want. As the educator you must let them use the tools that they learn best with. Do do this, inquiry-based learning can be utilized. Provide students with a task and ask them the question after they have had an opportunity to figure it out on their own, then ask them a question. All of this is explained simply in the link to the podcast above.

Lines, Rays, quiz...FOLLOW THE.....GOOGLE DOC!!


Volcanoes Powerpoint Google doc.

As an educator one must understand the different forms that students learn and how to reach them in the most efficient way possible. Tapping into the form of learning that is best for your students can be the best opportunity for teaching and learning. This website offers descriptions of the different forms of learning, as well as many other useful facts. 
                There are three different ways that students learn. Visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. Most students are a combination of one or more ways of learning but it is contemplated that up to 40% of students are visual learners. This is why it is important to understand how to teach students that learn visually.   

    Using something like mywebspiration for learning is a great way to engage all different learners’ especially visual learners. If the educator makes something up before the lesson and the students have the opportunity to fill in the questions or bubbles with information they have to search for themselves, the learners have to utilize more than one form of learning and the opportunity for the information to stick is more likely. The visual aspect is great because the students can keep a copy of the assignment that they helped create and use it as a reference. 

    Reflection: I learned a lot about how visual learners learn and how to teach visual learners. I understand now that to aid the visual learners I encounter I can write down the main ideas of the lesson, use different colors of text while teaching a lesson, use power point presentations, create ven diagrams, or put in real life photos to reiterate the topic. These are just a few of the strategies’ that I learned to aid the visual learners in and out of the classroom.
     I learned to be cognizant of the different forms of learners that a classroom is going to entail. This is important when making lesson plans. Keeping in mind that students’ learn in all different ways I can understand that the students are going to understand and interpret things differently also. I am studying to be an intervention specialist so I am obviously interested in visual learners that have special needs. Individuals that are visual learners and embrace special need attributes need more visual stimuli (depending on the individual student this could be detrimental).  Overall if the student has the opportunity to utilize more than one sense at a time they are going to have a better opportunity to recall the information.   

      The knowledge, resources, and tools, I have learned to reach visual learners is going to be a key component in my teaching strategies. This is going to be important to my teaching style because I now know how and what to do when dealing with students that learn visually while keeping in mind it is going to be the majority. This is important for my learners because they depend on me to provide them with the best education possible and that entails catering to their educational needs.  

I was aware that educators were to adhere to a variety of standards, and that technology was one of them. To what extent I was unaware. After having the opportunity to be exposed to the expectations that I will in the future be mandated to follow I understand there are specific standards my students and myself are to attempt to accomplish when referring to technology. You can click on the following links and read the student standards, teacher standards, and the state of Ohio standards for

 Student standards

 Teachers standards

Ohio technology standards

Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments:

*provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
 

This was a red flag to me because the standardized summative assessments I have encountered are all still paper and pencil. In my opinion this is a thing of the past. The children that we are educating, in this technology crazed society, are not going to be utilizing paper and pencil form in their future.

As far as the standards for the students I understand the idea and the goal of them, but I believe that consideration is left out. After reading the standards the students are to adhere to I began to think of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and districts. If students are not provided with the opportunity to be exposed to technology then how are they going teach one another and collaborate about the technology they comprehend?

I could see how Ning could be utilized but, I am unsure if I would personally use it.  Although, having the opportunity to be exposed to it and being knowledgeable and aware of what the site offers is beneficial. 

AUP: A detailed outline of how and what the technology is going to be used for. Acceptable use policy. Very detailed, parents are aware; students are explained and understand the policy. I believe it is important for the school or the classroom teacher to go over the contract with the students and send home a copy for the parents. Above it is important to implement the punishments that are outlined if a rule is broken; this is going to show the entire classroom how serious you and all the other teachers in the building take the AUP.

Online bullying is also important to bring to attention of the class and the parents. Students need to be aware that they can possibly face criminal charges on top of their schools discipline. It can be serious and if it is not brought to the attention of the students they may not be aware they are participating in cyber bullying.

Copyrights have the potential to confuse and fluster any teachers especially with the ever changing technology we use daily. These thinks will be of some assistance for future and practicing teachers regarding resources related to copyrights DO's and DON'Ts.

My reflection: After being exposed to so many different topics and resources I can see how some of them could be utilized in an everyday classroom. It is obvious that educators need to be in tune with the standards and ethics that educators face, but having them at your fingertips is very resourceful. Ning could be useful but I am unaware if it is something I would willingly participate in. AUP was something new and interesting that I had never heard of before. I see how this can be important and how it should be used in schools today. The cyber bulling portion of the AUP is significant. It is possible that the students I encounter are aware of cyber bullying but may not be aware of the consequences they could face or the harsh reality and effect it can have on anyone. The following video is going to explain cyber bulling and some tips that teachers can use  to prevent cyber bullying and how to deal with it.